STORYBROOKE CHATROOM CH 4

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I APOLOGIZE FOR THE SUPER LATE UPDATES. I AM REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT UP FOR ALL MY LOVELY REVIEWERS! I JUST HOPE THIS CHAPTER WILL MAKE IT UP TO YOU. THERE ARE SOME REALLY BIG REVEALS IN THIS CHAPTER!

OUAT isn't mine. *sighs*

The sun rose bright and shiny on a beautiful morning in Storybrooke. While everyone thought it was a beautiful day, Regina did not. If anything, she felt super sad and vulnerable.

Regina opened her eyes. She eyed her clock. 9: 05 am. Great, she slept in. Her dark eyes were still puffy and red from crying last night. She quickly summoned some pain reliever for her throbbing headache with a wave of her hand.

I hope this day's better than yesterday...

Suddenly she heard her doorbell ring. Quickly, Regina made her down the stairs and headed for the door. She opened the door.

It was her son. Regina's face suddenly lit up with great happiness.

"Henry..." she said happily.

Henry shuffled his feet nervously. "Hi mom." She narrowed her eyes, looking at Henry. He looked troubled.

"Oh, Henry!" she gasped. "What's wrong?"

Henry looked down as though he was guilty or hiding something. Regina knew all too well when there was something wrong with Henry.

"Please, Henry, Tell me what's wrong." Regina repeated more softly.

Henry took a deep breath. "I-it's them. Mary- Snow and Emma. They're acting all strange... they keep staying up late and they are so loud discussing about this mysterious user on the chat room."

Regina gritted her teeth. Staying with those people weren't a good idea after all. She put on the warmest smile for Henry.

"How would you like to spend the day with me?"

Henry smiled back in return.

The blonde woman got up from her bed and yawned. She slept late again, chatting with Ruby. Her tummy rumbled. Time for breakfast at Grannys. I'll get Henry.

"Hey, kid! Henry!" Emma called out to Henry. No response. Not this again!

"Emma, what's up? What are you doing?" Snow asked as she entered the room. Emma groaned in frustration. "Henry. Where is he?"

"In his bed," was her mother's reply. To reassure Emma, she said, "I'll check on him."

"Please do..."

After a few seconds Snow yelled out, "HENRY!" Snow rushed to Emma's room, panicking.

"What?"

Snow's breathing was shallow and she looked more distressed than ever before. "It's Henry... oh, Emma..."

Now Emma was really getting impatient and confused. "What is it?!"

"Henry's not here."

Emma's jaw dropped open in shock. "Oh hell no," she muttered. Emma didn't bother to change her pajamas. She just grabbed her jacket and boots and headed out the door. Before she left, she told Snow, "I'll find him!"

She rushed out of the apartment. Emma knew exactly where he was. I'll find you kiddo.

Emma rushed past the diner, and ran into Archie and Pongo. "Oh-oh my gosh, I'm sorry Archie!" she apologized as she bumped her shoulder on him. "No problem Emma," he said, smiling. He did not seem to notice Emma in her pajamas, rather than her usual skinny jeans.

"Beautiful day isn't it?" he looked at the clock tower.

"I...yeah, it is,"Emma replied. Then she realized that she still had to look for Henry. Crap.

"See you Archie!" she said as she ran past him.

"Beautiful day indeed," said Archie as he watched Emma sprinting down the street. "Let's go Pongo!"

Henry's laughter filled the kitchen as he started mixing the batter for his chocolate cupcakes. Regina was next to him, smiling. She was happy at last. Henry was willing to spend some quality time with his mother. At this thought, Regina let out a warm genuine laugh. Henry turned around, grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Nothing... I'm just grateful that you're here with the Evil Queen."

Her son's grin dropped to the floor, replaced with concern on his face. "You're not evil anymore, I can see that," Henry smiled at her. Then his eyes got sad again as he whispered but only loud enough for Regina to hear, "I wish everyone could see that you changed."

"Oh Henry..." Regina was touched that Henry was supporting her. "Thank you." Regina pulled Henry in for a tight hug. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Henry. I wouldn't trade you for the world, you're the only one in here who accepts me for who I really am."

Just then, they both heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it Henry. Just stay here," Regina instructed. Henry did what he was told, so he just sat down as Regina opened the door. It revealed Emma Swan, her blonde hair messy. Probably from running, Regina assumed.

The dark haired woman took a deep breath before saying, "Miss Swan. Can I help you?"

"Yeah. It's Henry. I assume that he's here with you, right?" The blonde did not seem angry at all. Regina cracked a real smile. "Yeah... Henry is here. Baking."

"Can I come in? I just wanna say a few things to him." Regina motioned her head to invite her inside the mansion. Emma came in, immediately seeing Henry. "Kid!" she called out to him. "I was so worried-where were you? How come you didn't leave a note at least?"

Henry looked down at the floor. "Sorry mom. It's just that things are kinda off with you guys. With you and Grandma, and also Ruby."

Emma looked apologetic too. "I apologize too, kid. It's just there's something going on here in Storybrooke. I don't want you to be a part of the mess we've created for you kid. You don't deserve that, and I really am sorry for making you run away."

Regina listened to their conversation. She thought that letting Henry stay with them would not be best for her son. She cleared her throat, announcing her presence to the mother and son.

"I know things are not running the way it should be right now at your place, Emma, so I was thinking about letting Henry stay with me until things resolve back to the way it used to be." Regina said kindly. "But you also get to see Henry whenever you want to," she also added quickly to reassure the blonde woman that she's not depriving her from seeing Henry.

Emma smiled genuinely at the former mayor. "Geez, thanks Regina." She was glad that she can finally get along with her son's adoptive mother- they were finally having a civil conversation without trying to kill each other. "Oh, and yeah. Henry can stay with you. That's fine with me."

"Thank you, Miss Swan- Emma," the brunette woman corrected herself. "I'm glad we can be civil with one another."

"Me too. I should probably get going." Emma said.

"Bye ma!" Henry said cheerfully.

Emma started to head back to the door when she heard a voice call out, "Wait!"

She turned around to see Regina running to her. "Regina? Why are you running?" Emma questioned her. Regina finally caught up with her. She looked like she was struggling to say something. "Regina what is it?"

"I'm sorry!" the dark haired woman suddenly said. Emma was confused. What was she apologizing for?

As if she read her thoughts, Regina said, "I am sorry for everything that has happened between us. I'm sorry for yesterday, for snapping at you and making you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry for not allowing you to see Henry when you're allowing me to. I owe you a lot. I'm just- I feel guilty for everything. I'm not very good at apologizing, yet here I am. So, here it goes." Regina's eyes began filling up with tears again as she continued.

"I shouldn't have threatened you when you got here- I was just afraid that I would lose control of everything I've fought so hard to build. I just... I really am sorry Emma." Then Regina looked down at the ground, not wanting to meet Emma's eyes.

Emma was speechless. She has never heard or seen the usually uptight woman break down in front of her. "Hey..." she said kindly. "That's alright- I forgive you. Hell, I have already forgiven you long ago when the curse broke and when I saw how you looked at Henry with love when we came through the portal. So yes, I forgive you."

Regina was now able to look Emma in the eyes. For sure, she saw forgiveness in her eyes.

"Thank you Emma." Then to Emma's big surprise, Regina leaned in front of Emma and embraced her. It was a sign of starting fresh and new. Then they let go of the hug.

"Can we just...start over? As friends?" Regina asked sheepishly.

Emma nodded. "Yeah. For sure. Besides, it would be great for Henry to see his adoptive mother getting along with his biological mom, right?"

Regina just laughed. "Yes, it is."

"I should really get going now." Emma replied. "This is really great, us getting along."

The brunette woman nodded in agreement.

Snow and Ruby were at the diner, talking about the chatroom. "So Belle is the mysterious person in the chatroom?" Snow asked. Ruby nodded.

"So how do we get her to admit that she's 'Love_Strength'?" Snow wondered. Ruby shrugged. Right on cue, Belle walked in the diner. She walked over to Ruby and Snow.

"Hi guys!" Belle greeted happily. "Can I have a- what's that called again? Oh right, the cheeseburger. Can I have a cheeseburger, Ruby?"

"Yeah, for sure. I'll let Granny know!" Then Ruby went off to the kitchens to Granny. Soon, Snow and Belle were alone. There was a very awkward silence between them. "Hi Snow." Belle began. Snow smiled in return. "Uh so have you heard about that new Storybrooke Chatroom?" she asked Belle.

"Oh yes! It's really fun, chatting with people." Belle replied. Then she scrunched up her nose. "But you know, there's this mysterious person in the chatroom. Everyone knows who everyone is, except for this one user."

Snow was now intrigued. "What's the username?"

"I'm pretty sure it was 'Love_Strength' or something like that."

The blood drained from Snow's cheeks. "You-you're not 'Love_Strength'?" Snow stammered. "Of course not!" Belle said. "I use Rumple's account! Actually, he said he would help me create my own account today!"

Snow could only say, "Oh..."

Ruby came in with cheeseburger and handed it to Belle. "Here you go Belle." Belle took out her purse and gave Ruby a 20 dollar bill.

"Thank you Ruby," Belle said happily. "I have to go now. See you guys!" Belle walked out of the diner.

The moment Belle left, Snow turned to Ruby.

"Ruby..." said Snow through gritted teeth. Snow leaned over to whisper something in Ruby's ear. The waitress' eyes widened in shock.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"

"Hey mom?" Henry called out as he made his way to Regina's room. "Can I borrow your laptop?" He came in to see Regina using the laptop. "Oh, never mind, you can go use it." Henry's face reddened in embarrassment.

"Oh Henry, it's okay. Go ahead." She handed the black laptop to Henry.

"Thank you mom." Henry said. Regina shrugged. "It's no problem at all."

Henry stepped out of the room with the laptop and went to his room. He logged on to the Storybrooke chatroom. The first thing he saw was the username "Love_Strength".

Curious, Henry typed down, "Hello."

After a few seconds, there was a reply. It said, "Hi ;),"

"My day's going gr8 right now. How's urs?" Henry typed down. The reply came within a few seconds.

It read, "Oh it's going well, 2. Probably the best day i've had in awhile."

"Why's that?" Henry asked as he typed down the question.

"Things are going well." That was the reply.

"wat a coincidence. same too!" Henry replied on the screen.

"Hey I gotta go now," was "Love_Strength"'s reply after chatting with Henry for 15 minutes.

"Ok. Chat w u soon." Henry typed down.

Henry logged off and went on to YouTube. Henry went to watch some Harry Potter clips when he realized that the battery meter was only at 7%. He got up and brought the laptop to his mom's room. He decided to use the laptop in his mom's room instead. He plugged the charger in and continued watching videos on YouTube again. Henry decided to leave a private message to "Love_Strength". So he logged back on to the Storybrooke Chatroom.

He went to "Love_Strength"'s profile. He clicked on "Private Messaging" and began typing down his little message. He typed down,

"Hey Love_Strength. I loved chatting with u. Ur really fun 2 talk 2. Hope to chat some more! :) - Henry

Henry hit send. Suddenly, Regina's phone went off. Henry didn't realize that Regina's phone was on the side table in her room. He went to check her phone. Maybe it was an emergency. He quickly grabbed her phone and saw that it was just a message bar on the screen. Heny gasped when he saw the message sent to Regina.

It read,

"Hey Love_Strength. I loved chatting with u. Ur really fun 2 talk 2. Hope to chat some more! :) - Henry